Stitches and Staples
by Edward-Scissorhanded-Cullen
Summary: Bella has everything going for her. She's popular, smart, and pretty. But all that changes once a new kid comes to Forks and steals all that within a month of coming. Bella is constantly picked on and now she's depressed. She's diagnosed with an eating disorder when her doctor's son catches her after she faints from hunger in class. She starts having feelings for the southern dude.
1. Chapter OnePrologue

Had anyone told me this is where my life would be in just one month, I probably would have told them to fuck off, they're obviously delusionally jealous of my perfect life.


	2. Chapter Two

My life was perfect. I had everything a teenage girl could ever want: name-brand clothes, the body that made boys drool, hair like silk, eyes so deep people worried they would drown in them, rich parents that didn't nag you about anything, a nice car, decent grades, and a steamy boyfriend who showered you in love and gifts. Then she came around.

I remember the day perfectly. I had on the perfect summer dress, blue - to make my eyes pop. My hair had been behaving and was falling perfectly down my back. Mike, the steamy one I was talking about earlier, had just bought me the perfect shoes the day before that matched everything spot on. My makeup hadn't smudged one bit. I was hanging out with Jessica, Eric, Tyler, Angela, and the rest of my perfect little group at the mall in Port Angeles. My dad had even given me a raise in my allowance.

Then she came. She probably would have been my best friend if it weren't for the fact that the first thing she said to me changed my life for the worse.

"Mike! Put me down!" I laughed as I spoke. Mike had picked me up and was spinning me around with me over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. We hadn't even noticed the girl watching us a few feet away, leaning on a pillar.

"Take back what you said first," he laughed as he spun some more.

"Never!" He apparently disagreed when Jessica, Angela, and I were talking about how Mathew and Margret were the cutest couple in school; he thought we were.

"You better put the fat ass down before you give yourself a hernia," the girl who'd been watching us said, starting to walk forward toward the group.

"And, who are you?" Mike asked as he put me down. It was clear from his face he wasn't happy about her interrupting our fun.

"I'm Tanya, and you must be my future friend with benefits partner." The nerve of her. Everyone laughed though, even Mike as something flashed in his eyes. Now that I know better, I can identify it as him thinking about her offer.

"I'm Mike. This is Bella, Tyler, Jessica, Angela, and Eric. Are you new here?" He hung out at the mall enough he could tell the new from the old and tell them apart from the tourists. He says they have a certain look about them that allows him to tell instantly.

"Just got here yesterday," she nodded, "I had to find my way here all the way from Forks, horribly small town - ever heard of it?"

"Yeah, we actually all live there ourselves," Jessica told her, eager to make a new friend.

"Perfect," Tanya said while eyeing Mike.

"You wanna join us?" he asked.

"I'd love to."

"I actually have to go," I said truthfully. My mom, Renee, was having an important business client over for dinner and I had to be there early to help her set up and look presentable.

"Leaving so soon? That is such a shame," Tanya said as she latched onto Mike's arm.

"Yeah, Mike you're still driving me home right?"

"I don't know... It would be rude to leave Tanya after I just invited her to hang out."

"But, you drove me here!"

"Take a bus or something, the closest bus stop to Forks is only a couple miles to your house," he said. I was honestly shocked beyond belief, on any other given day, he would have been all over driving me home.

"The nearest bus stop is five miles away from my house and it'll be dark by the time I start walking. It's dangerous!"

"Don't worry," Tanya jumped in, "you could use the exercise-and I doubt anyone will want to rape you."

"Sorry, babe. Just be careful, nothing'll happen. I promise."

I shook my head, "whatever. Enjoy your time together. Don't bother calling me tonight."

"Ah, is poor widdle Bella sad dat big Mikey is leaving her to fend for herself?" Tanya said in a stupid baby voice. They turned away, laughing with each other. It's unbelievable how quickly she steered my friends away from me.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed my mom.

"Hello?" She sounded distracted, already preparing for tonight probably.

"Mom, it's me."

"Bella? Where are you, are you on your way?"

"I had a slight change in plans, I'm likely to be a bit late."

"What?! No! You need to get here on time. What happened?"

"Mike ditched me to hang out with a new friend and so now I'll need to take the bus."

"Mike? As in Newton?"

"Yes."

"Somehow I doubt that. Actually, I'm kind of getting the impression that you're lying to me. The Mike I know wouldn't just leave you at the mall with no way of getting home, so you better stop whatever it is you're doing and get your but over here on time or there will be severe punishments."

"Mom, I'm not lying! Why would I lie? I know how important this client is." I was starting to cry, the tears collecting at the bottoms of my eyes.

"I dot know why you're lying, all I know is that you better figure out what you're going to do or you can find another place to sleep tonight!" *click*


	3. Chapter Three

*Snap*

"Ahhh!" My heal snapped off, making me fall flat on my face. While I was still on the ground the only car I've seen for the last two miles decides to show up and drive right through a puddle, drenching me in muddy water. "Of course!" I yelled while getting up, "what kind of shitty day would it have been without someone drenching me in fucking rain?!" I had to walk all the way to Forks because the last bus had already left by the time I had gotten there.

The car stopped. Had I pissed them off? My heart started pounding faster as the car backed up until the passenger door was lined up with me. The window rolled down and revealed a Cullen.

The Cullen's are well known around Forks. All of the kids are gorgeous. They were all adopted when they were younger and swear they have absolutely no blood relation, but, strangely enough, all look very much alike.

Dr. Carlisle Cullen is the "father" of the family; Esme Cullen is the "mother". No one really knows where they're originally from since they move around a lot, but they came here because Dr. Cullen was offered a job at the hospital. Everyone in school says that the reason they adopted is because Esme can't have kids of her own, some cliff diving accident from what I hear.

There's Edward, Emmett, and Alice Cullen. Edward's insanely good looking, almost more so than the rest of them. From what I've heard he likes to keep to himself and if your lucky enough to get a word out of him, it's cold and distant. Emmett has a lot of muscle, but I've talked to him and he's actually really sweet. Alice doesn't go to the high school yet, she only ten years old.

Then there's the Hales. Rosalie and Jasper. Rosalie is gorgeous (seriously, she would put Tanya to shame) and goes out with Emmett. All of the girls are extremely jealous of her boyfriend and looks. All of the boys are jealous of Emmett for his muscle and girlfriend. Jasper is kind of the odd one out. He's a bit anti-social with everyone, but not to the degree of Edward. I don't know much about him, except that he's friendly, shy, and has a southern drawl sometimes (it slips out in class-mainly history). Also you never see him without Alice outside of school, which is why I was more than a little curious as to why he was in the car in front of me without Alice.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you! ... Why were you on the ground?" he asked.

I held up my broken heel. "My heel broke," I said sullenly.

"Do you need a ride?"

"Can you get me to the other side of town in, like, five minutes?" I was doubtful, so he surprised me when he nodded. "I'll get your seats wet though."

"Don't worry about my seats, worry about hyperthermia. Besides, I'm the one who got you wet, so I kind of deserve it if they get ruined." I smiled slightly as I got in his car. It had a really nice interior which made me all the more guilty. He turned the heater on full blast. "Why were you walking? Especially this late at night, don't you know how dangerous it is?" He sped off at high speed, causing me to not doubt that he could get me to the other side of town with time to spare.

"I didn't have a choice. Mike ditched me at the mall and my mom is busy getting ready for the guest we're expecting; she said that if I don't make it there on time I can find another place to sleep."

"Oh, I'm sorry." It sounded like he meant it, which surprised me, why should he care if I'm having a bit of a rough time? Can someone really be that compassionate about other people? Even if they don't know them?

"Where's Alice?" I asked once the tension got too much.

"She just had a dance recital. Everyone else took another car so they could celebrate."

"Why aren't you celebrating with them?"

"I have too much homework to get done; I'm stretching time enough as it is." Now I feel really guilty that he's driving me home.

"You can just drop me off here if you want and I can run home," I suggested. "I don't want to cause you more stress than you already have. I know how stressful homework is."

"No, it's fine. Your house is on the way to mine. I also like the company, without Alice it felt too quiet."

"It's cute that you two are so close to each other."

"We've been through a lot," he nodded sadly.

"Like what?" I asked, even to me it sounded judgmental and snarky.

"What? You don't think that I could have actual problems?" He sounded angry; I would be angry too, I sounded like a bitch.

"No, that's not what I mea-"

"Whatever. Which house is yours?" I told him the number and the rest of the drive was quiet.

When he pulled up to my house I somehow still had a couple minutes to spare. "Thanks for the ride," I said as I undid my seatbelt.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry that what I said earlier sounded mean, I didn't mean for it to sound so harsh."

More silence.

"I'll be going then." I awkwardly got out of the car.

I was about to shut the door when he said "I hope to see you tomorrow." I smiled and waved. It's good to know he doesn't hate me.

As I walked up the pathway to the house I wondered what I was going to wear seeing as how my dress was kind of ruined with street water. Maybe I could squeeze in a quick shower too, my hair was God-awful. I was embarrassed to be seen by Jasper like this.

The door opened to reveal my mother looking hopeful. When she saw it was only me her smile dropped. "Oh, I thought you were someone else." Clearly. "How'd you make it here so quickly?"

Thanks, mom! Yeah, no I'm fine! I just walked about ten miles in heels by myself in a summer dress. No, the cars that slowed down didn't scare me at all. Thanks for asking and being concerned!

"A friend drove by me at the edge of town and gave me a ride the rest of the way."

"Oh. Well, come get ready then, we don't have much time!" She stepped aside and as I walked passed her said "phew, honey, take a shower too. You smell like a wet dog."


	4. Chapter Four

Our guest showed up five minutes late for dinner. It was the longest five minutes of my life filled with "what if he's not coming?" and "how long should I wait for him if he doesn't come?" or, my personal favorite, "are you sure you want to wear that? I mean, he's a very important person and we don't want to make the wrong impression."

I had to change my dress twice before she told me to go with the least trashiest one, the first one I was wearing.

When he finally showed up my mom nearly tripped from the heals she was wearing while trying to catch the door. He presented her with flowers that looked remarkably like the ones out neighbors across the street were trying to grow; she blushed deeply.

Dinner was awkward. They kept staring at each other weirdly. Dad tried to make conversation with Tim, mom's client, but when he wouldn't look at my dad for more than a glance and then would continue to use his x-ray eyes on her, he gave up on conversation and stared at his plate throughout dinner.

Finally, Tim left at 10 o' clock. He and mom continued talking and ogling each other for two whole hours after dinner! They weren't even talking business, I know because dad had me go into the living room with some ridiculously bogus story about looking for a magazine. After a while I had to change my story to my cell phone. Then dad's wallet.

Mom and dad got into a huge fight after Tim left and dad ended up sleeping on the couch and I got grounded for spying on her business partner.

The next morning I woke up late and didn't have as much time as I normally did to get ready. All I could put together was a pair of black skinny jeans and a tee-shirt I barely glanced at; I only put on some mascara and eyeliner and left my hair wavy. I rushed through the kitchen, only grabbing an apple for breakfast, and ran to my truck.

I made it to school with only 2 minutes left to run to class before I was late. Killing the engine and jumping out of my truck was something spectacular, so was running across the parking lot; I was very clumsy and was expecting to trip. Of course, I should have realized that fate was saving it for when I was in front of everyone so that it could embarrass me once more.

I threw the door open of building 3 and sprinted down the long hallway. As I was turning into the doorway of the classroom I fell. Flat on my face. The class howled with laughter, because of course all of them were here and on time today.

"Wow. Fat and clumsy. Quite the combination you've got there, Bella. I'm sure the boys are all over you," Tanya said as she stepped over me. "Oh, and your nose is bleeding."

"What is going on in here?" Mr. Mason said as he came back from the back room. He looked down at me, "are you alright?"

"Yes, I just slipped and fell."

"Will someone go with Bella to the nurse to have her nose looked at?" No one volunteered.

"That's OK, Mr. Mason. I can go myself, I've been there before."

"I bet you have," Tanya muttered under her breath.

"Tanya," Mr. Mason reprimanded while shaking his head; she shrugged. "Alright, grab some tissues and go to the nurse." I did as I was told and went to the nurses office.

I opened the door to the parking lot and accidentally ran into someone who was built lie a brick wall. I fell back against the door with an 'oof!'

"Oh, jeez! I'm sorry, Bella," a semi-familiar voice said as he steadied me.

"It's fine," I mumbled as I looked into his brown eyes.

"What happened to your nose?" His forehead creased.

"I slipped in the hallway." He looked at me like I was something strange. "I was late, so I was running and I guess I didn't see the puddle. I'm on my way to the nurse right now." He still looked worried, it might have been because I was usually fairly cheerful, even if something wasn't quite right, but today too many things weren't right for me to even try at the moment, especially with last nights events still fresh in my mind.

"I'll walk with you," her offered as he gently urged me forward. We were silent for a bit, but he soon broke it. "So what happened last night with your mom? If you don't mind my asking."

"No, it's fine. I made it on time, but it didn't matter as much because the guy was late anyways."

"So, you didn't get in trouble?" I shook my head.

"How's your car? I bet it smells pretty bad, my mom said that I smelled like a wet dog; I'm sorry," I said and bit my lip.

"My car is fine, in fact it probably smells better than it did before," he laughed. "You don't have a cold or anything do you?"

"Well, now that you mention it I have been feeling a little warm lately and it feels like my nose is running a bit," I joked.

"That could be because you have blood gushing from it." We both laughed at our lame jokes.

The nurse gave me an ice pack for my nose and let me wait in her office for the bleeding to stop. Jasper only left once the nurse almost literally pushed him out. He seems like he would be a good friend; I should try harder to talk to him in class. Class was pretty much over by the time my nose had stopped bleeding, so the nurse told me to just wait outside my next class.

I pulled a book out of my bag to read while I waited. I was only a few pages into my book when a shadow blocked my reading light; I was immediately defensive but relaxed once I saw it was only Edward. Was he in this class too? "Hey, Edward. What's up?"

"Nothing. I heard you had a bloody nose in English this morning." Like I said before, cold and distant.

"Yeah? Where'd you hear that?"

"It's been flying around. I heard it from Emmett, who heard it from Mike Newton, who had apparently gotten a text from Jessica Stanley, who saw the whole thing." That was the longest thing I've ever heard him say before, ever.

I nodded in affirmation.

"So, then is it also true that you and Jasper are friends now?" His tone was a little harder than usual now, almost defensive. Protective maybe? Was he just being protective of his brother?

I thought about how to answer his question. Were we friends? Friends talk to each other; we did that on the way to the nurses office. Friends laugh and joke around with each other; check. Friends let each other know about their problems; we sort of did that. But other than those three things we didn't do what me and my other friends did together.

"Is it?" he pushed.

"I don't know, it might be. Maybe in the distant future we could become friends."

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said seriously.

"Why not?"

"It just isn't." Add creepy and cryptic to the list of characteristics for Edward.


	5. Chapter 5

Classes seemed to be going by quickly. It was almost like I was excited for something, but I didn't know what. I found myself looking around the halls more too, like I was looking for something or someone. Maybe I was looking for Mike. Or maybe I was looking for Tanya so I could avoid her.

Either way, it was time for lunch now. As I headed to the cafeteria I knew something was up. People were watching me as I walked and were giving me weary looks, like something bad was about to happen and they wanted to warn me about it, but couldn't figure out how. Walking into the cafeteria I knew why, there—in front of everyone—was Tanya, sitting on Mike's lap and practically petting his head.

I stopped in my tracks. Why he was letting her do that, was my question.

"Mike?" I asked.

He looked up, startled. "Bella! I - uh - I can explain," he rushed. He didn't appear to be in any hurry to have Tanya off his lap, though.

"Ugh. You know what? Don't bother. If you want a bitch, you can have her." This wasn't the first time I had seen him take an interest in other girls, but it was usually harmless—a few glances here and there or a crude remark, but it was never physical before.

Tanya smiled up at me with pseudo sweetness, "Aw, Bella. Don't be like that just because he would prefer a dog over you." My jaw dropped. "Jeez, save some flies for the rest of us, fatty."

I could feel the tears coming as a lump formed in the back of my throat; I couldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry, but running out would probably have the same affect. So instead I scoffed at her petty, but effective, attempt at bullying me and walked to the other side of the cafeteria where I saw an empty table.

I could hear her and Mike's laughter as they joked around. I sat with my back to them so a few tears would go unnoticed. I also didn't get anything to eat so as not to encourage her; I wasn't hungry anyway.

As there laughter grew so did my paranoia, were they talking about me? Laughing at me? Calling me names and turning my other friends against me? Notice how none of them joined me over here.

Just when I swore I couldn't take anymore and was about to stalk out someone, who by now I might as well consider my savior of some sort, came and sat down across from me.

"Is this seat taken?" Jasper asked.

"It is now," I said with a smile that he returned. I couldn't hear the laughing anymore and wanted to turn to see why, but I had to control myself. If they saw me watching, Tanya would say something.

"Why aren't you with your other friends?" Other friends? Did that mean he considered me a friend? Why do I want him to be my friend so badly? Two days ago he was just another person I went to school with.

"So you didn't see what just went down ten minutes ago?" He shook his head.

"I was finishing a test, what happened ten minutes ago?" he asked.

"Nothing of importance. Just me being dramatic, I suppose." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Can I ask you a favor without you thinking I'm weird?"

"Depends on how weird it is. If it's you asking me to bury a body then there's a slight possibility that I'll think you're a bit peculiar, but again, no promises," he said with a crooked grin that screamed mischief.

"No, nothing like that," I assured him, chuckling. "It's just—umm. Well..."

"Yes?" he urged politely.

"Are they looking at me? They've stopped laughing and I don't know why, but I can't look because if they catch me they'll start laughing again." I smiled shyly.

His eyes flashed behind my back for half a second. "I think it's more to do with the fact that I'm sitting with you, but they seem to be gawking."

"Crap."

"Why are they gawking?" I shrugged. "Why are you sitting over here?" I shrugged again, not wanting to answer. "Why is the new girl sitting on your boyfriend's lap?" Shrug. "Why is he glaring at me?" Shrug. "Are your shoulders starting to hurt yet?" I shook my head; he sighed. Was he irritated with me? Has he had enough of me already? Boy, that was a quick friendship.

"How has your day been?" he finally asked.

"Since embarrassing myself in front of practically the whole school? Considerably better."

"It wasn't the whole school, just one class."

"Yes, but here in Forks one class is about an eighth of the school and a tenth of the town." He laughed; it was cute and made me want him to talk more. "What test did you have to finish?" I asked.

"Math, terribly boring." I laughed at the face he made which made him smile at me.

The rest of lunch went quicker since Jasper was keeping me company. At one point I noticed Edward walk by and glare at me, but Jasper didn't see him. Tanya and Mike didn't say anything more to me but the laughter never seemed to pick back up, so I'm guessing they were still watching us. I was really disappointed when the bell rang, telling us lunch was over. I had really enjoyed talking to Jasper and wanted to continue our conversation, unfortunately, I wouldn't have class with him until seventh hour history. It made me feel a little better when I saw that he also seemed a little reluctant to go to class. That could have jus been dread for the next class though.

I kept my head down on the way to biology but was also smiling to myself. It's ridiculous how just twenty minutes with him could make my day so much better. I was still thinking about him and going over everything we had talked about and everything he had said when I sat down next to Edward.

He wasted no time getting down to business. "I though I told you to stay away from Jasper."

"Well, I never agreed to do that and I don't think I will. i don't see what the big deal is."

"Well it is a big deal. To me. Just stop hanging out with him. I'm asking nicely, please stop."

Mr. Banner brought the class to attention, but I wasn't going to have that be the end of our conversation. "Since when is demanding me to stop talking to your brother and glaring at me when I don't asking nicely?" I bit back at a whisper.

"It's nice for me, so don't push it."

"What's with all the threats? I've never seen you so aggressive and angsty," I retaliated.

"Bella and Edward, please save the rest of your conversation for after class," Mr. Banner scolded; we didn't talk anymore and both pretended to be concentrated on taking notes, but the way his fist was clenched for the rest of class told me he couldn't care less about the mitochondria being the powerhouse of the cell.

Gym was also torture, as usual. Thankfully Tanya wasn't in anymore of my classes. We were playing volleyball and I kept going for the ball but completely missing and blocking my team mates from getting it as well. Needless to say some of them were more than a little miffed at me.

History was pretty amazing. We had to present our topics hay we had been researching for the past week, but I didn't have to go today because my last name starts with an S. Since we were going by order of last names, however, that meant that Jasper had to go. He presented on the Civil War and how there were camps that were just as bad as the World War II concentration camps. Two girls had to leave the class because of how graphic some of the pictures he was showing were. There were emaciated bodies that looked like they were on the verge of death and some of them would purposely do things to get shot because the camps were so bad; it was horrible.

He slipped I to that accent of his a few times as well, which has always made me smile. I never know why, but I think it's because you never think about people having pasts that sometimes creep out at certain times.

I could go through my whole life never knowing why he was so interested in history and why he would slip into his accent when he really got into it. You never think about how people have gone through changes to become who they are at the moment you meet them. I know he used to live in the southern half of the United States, but when did his accent start slipping away? Does he even know he does it? maybe he never had it in the first place. Maybe he's just playing on se inside joke he made once. Maybe he was I a history based play where he had to fake a southern accent and it just sort of stuck. Part of me refuses to go through life without knowing. When I find out, I hope I'm still interested in his life; it would suck if I only made a friend so I could satisfy some stupid curiosity.

I didn't have the chance to talk to him after class because Mr. Jefferson wanted to talk to him about his presentation, but we shared a small smile when I passed him on my way out.

When I got home layer that evening my parents still didn't seem to be talking to each other, which made for very thick, angry tension in the air. It was driving me crazy and after an hour I couldn't take it any longer; I decided to go for a run.

I didn't run very often, be use of a couple of bad experiences in gym, but I was usually not as clumsy when I didn't feel as if people were _waiting_ for me to mess up. I changed into some shorts and a tee-shirt, blasted my most up beat music, and ran.

I like to pretend I'm being chased by zombies when I run; I am absolutely terrified of zombies. _Dead things are not supposed to come back to life_.


End file.
